Art-e’facts Vol.1 marks the first time that multi-faceted producer, electronic composer and co-founder of Beau Monde records, Scott E. Hodgson has attempted to bring his various recording aliases under one roof. Releasing since 1993, you may recall his numerous artist hats such as Razor-Heed, Uriel, Ultra-Modern Art, Lexx, Majic-12 and of course Scott Edward. With the approaching release of the man’s immense catalogue to the digital realm, this and the soon to follow Vol.2 act as a timely reminder to the stunning Detroit inspired techno, jazzy electronica, banging European techno, future hip hop and B12 / Black Dog flavoured experimentalism he has produced.

Born in 1971 in Bristol, England, Scott, who was once described as "Britain's best kept secret" by Melody Maker, began creating music as a classic bedroom producer using whatever equipment he could muster. He achieved his first commercial releases through the Italian ACV Record’s “Hot Trax” and “Out of Orbit” imprints, under the pseudonyms of “Razor-Heed” and “Scott Edward”. From the first Scott Edward release, all his recordings were created in his new studio which he named “Art Edit”, which would subsequently move to various locations in the areas surrounding Bath and Bristol in the UK.

Sadly in 2002 the studio was broken into and ransacked, leaving little equipment left to continue his musical journey. This also contributed to the break-up of the Beau Monde record label, that he co-founded in 1995. Due to the decisions of the label manager and purely commercial timings, it was never possible to give all his material a commercial release. This is where Art Edit the digital label comes in. This label has been created to release as much of this original material as possible in a re-mastered state for digital download. This includes much new material from the vaults of the studio that has never been heard before and that is in every way as good as the material that did get commercial releases at the time.

Scott Edward is the artist name used by of Scott E. Hodgson. Employing his first and middle name as a pseudonym the Scott Edward releases were always focused on his Detroit techno influences. Here he blends the funky but disjointed electronics of Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Carl Craig with the straighter, more driving sounds coming from mainland Europe of the 90s

An example of this comes straight off the bat with the staccato Detroit funk of opening ‘Motor City X’, an unreleased track that is every part the equal of the finest techno released during the 90s. As Uriel we get the downtempo jazz fusion of ‘Andromeda Session’ (a track released on Weatherall’s Audio Emissions Output imprint 20 years ago) and as Majic-12 we find a unique fusion of hip hop beats and loose limbed funk that sits somewhere between Lonnie Liston Smith and Depth Charge. As Razor-Heed we find Scott in his most no-nonsense dancefloor approach, turbo-charged and ready to pulverise with rave stabs on ‘Space and Time’ and ‘Data Ram’. Bringing the tempos back down again, as Lexx he fires off liquid techno, set to a house tempo that refuses to fall into a dull ‘tech-house’ groove whilst as Ultra-Modern Art we find two tracks that feel like ancient relics from the dawn of UK experimental techno.

Art-e’facts Vol.1 is testament to the creative genius of one of the UK’s great over-looked electronic talents and a timely reminder of the ever-lasting art of Scott E. Hodgson.